“The bases have already been rallied,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) asserted this month on the Fox News Channel before boldly repudiating Democrats’ latest gambit to retain their Senate majority. But where does this leave independents and non-affiliated voters? Ultimately, they will exert enormous influence in swing districts and hotly contested congressional races this fall. Thus their voting preferences matter, and on one issue in particular, Democrats find themselves deeply underwater.
According to a recent Fox News poll, independents overwhelmingly prefer anti-Obamacare candidates to pro-Obamacare candidates -- that is, if Obamacare is the only issue in which both candidates stand in disagreement. Consequently, this underscores just how "unpalatable" the president’s signature domestic achievement has become, and gives us yet another reason why Democrats continue to run from it (via the Washington Times):
The Fox News poll showed that if the only difference between two candidates running for Congress this year was their position on the Affordable Care Act, then independents would support the candidate that fights against the health care law by a 54- to 29-percent margin.
This may not bode well for Democrats as they look to defend their Senate majority.
To be fair, most independents will evaluate office seekers on a whole host of issues, and vote for the candidate who they feel most aligns with their values. But make no mistake: this is another bump in the road for Congressional Democrats -- and they know it.
Notebook